Emergency Care

What happens when I arrive?

TRIAGE, REGISTRATION AND WAITING TIME 

In our ED, we prioritize attending to patients with serious illnesses and injuries. All patients coming into ED will be directed to the TRIAGE where our triage nurse will: 

• Take a brief history of your illness or injury. 
• Record your vital signs (temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiration). 

Kindly assist our triage nurse by providing relevant and accurate information.   

You will then be assigned a specific priority level (Red, Yellow, Green or Blue) according to your medical condition.  

• Patients receiving red and yellow categories will be assisted inside the red and yellow zone. ONLY ONE person will be allowed inside the treatment area as an assist, with the patient. 
• Green and blue zones have their separate waiting areas, where you would be requested to patiently wait for your turn in the consultation queue. ONLY ONE person may accompany the patient inside the consultation rooms. 

After getting triaged to the specific zone, you will be requested to get registered at the Emergency Reception; prior to consultation. 

After registration, you will be assigned a queue number. 

Customer care staff at the reception will inform you of the estimated waiting time.

What to bring?  

• National ID card or any other valid form of identification. 
• A list of your medications, allergies and surgeries. If you do not have a medication list ready, please bring the strips/bottles with you. 
• An assistant/helper/relative (ideal).
• Wear mask and maintain social distancing. 

Why am I waiting when the waiting area is NOT crowded?

An empty waiting room does not mean that our emergency department is not busy assisting patients. Cases such as trauma and heart attacks require us to reallocate staff in order to maximize their care. AEH Emergency Department is the only trauma center of Addu City, and often serve patients brought in with some of the deadliest road traffic accidents in the country. So while it may not seem busy in the waiting room, the treatment areas of the emergency department can be very active. 

Please share your concerns of delay with our customer care staff and they will assist you in better understanding the circumstances. We can assure you that we are constantly looking for ways to offer you services at the earliest. Thank you for being patient and helping us save lives. 

Why are some patients who arrived after me, seen before me? 

As mentioned above, we triage all patients according to their medical condition. Priority will be given to those who have serious and life-threatening conditions. Elderly and children may also be seen earlier considering their situation. 

What are the priority levels? 

Priority 1 – RESUCITATION AND EMERGENT (RED/ORANGE) 

Patients in a state of cardiovascular or imminent collapse are attended to immediately at the resuscitation and emergent zones. Doctors will speak to you shortly after they have assessed and stabilized the patient. 

Eg: Unconscious, heart attack, shock, severe asthma, etc. 

Priority 2 – URGENT (YELLOW)  

Patients with acute medical conditions that require urgent medical or surgical care will be attended early in the Yellow zone. Doctors will inform you regarding patient’s condition as soon as they have assessed patient.  

Eg: Major fractures, moderate injuries, severe abdominal pain and other severe medical illnesses.  

Priority 3 – MINOR/NON EMERGENCY (GREEN) 

Patients with acute symptoms who are in stable condition will be treated in the Green OPD. One relative can accompany the patient into the consultation area, but they maybe asked to take a seat in the waiting area when a procedure or examination is being done. 

Eg: Minor abdominal pain, sprain and strain, vomiting, localised rash etc. 

Priority 4 – STABLE/NON EMERGENCY (BLUE) 

For the patients coming in with older injuries or complains that have been present for a long duration, emergency department is not the ideal place for their care. You will be directed to General OPD area and requested to wait for your consultation with the doctor.  

CONSULTATION AND TREATMENT 

 Depending on your medical condition, our doctors may decide on the following for you: 

• Review by specialists from other departments – if your medical condition requires review by a specialist doctor of AEH on urgent basis, we will arrange for the respective doctors to see you. 
• Observation after initial management/investigations – depending on your medical condition you may be kept for observation and investigations in the Emergency Department Yellow/Red zone, for a few hours (maximum 4 hours). After a review, decision can be made regarding admission in hospital for further observation or discharge for home on medication. 
• Admission – you may be admitted if your condition warrants further investigations, observation and in-hospital treatment. 
• Discharged for home – After treatment, if your condition is stable, doctor may discharge you for home with or without medication. You may also be referred to our specialist outpatient clinic.  

 FOLLOW UP APPOINTMENT 

• If you are referred to a Specialist OPD, our ED customer care staff will assist you in booking the appointment. 

 MEDICATION 

• You may collect your medication (those available under Aasandha insurance), from our in-house STO Pharmacy.  
• Some items (such as splints, arm slings, crepe bandage) may require payment (as they are not covered under Aasandha insurance). 

 ADMISSION 

• Our nurses in the ED and customer care staff at the ED reception will assist you with the admission procedure. 
• A guardian/relative will be needed to complete the admission paperwork. 
• Please refer to COVID 19 guidelines here for information on specific admission protocols pertaining to COVID 19.